Walkers
by zTiamaTz
Summary: Cordelia agrees to Xander's offer for a ride to LA after graduation. They fight, they love, and things go crazy.
1. Why Us?

**Walkers**

zTiamaTz

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series, along with the characters from their respective shows are owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

Description: Cordelia agrees to Xander's offer for a ride to LA after graduation. They fight, they love, and things go crazy.

**:::::**

**Why Us?**

**:::::**

**++Xander POV++**

"Stop being such a coward." I told myself, as I stood in the doorway of the Sunnydale bus station. I knew the longer I waited, the less chance I had of actually catching her. The lady from the dream I'd had last night told me I needed to meet her today.

I was about to go on my road trip, and Cordelia was waiting for her bus to go to LA and become famous. This was my last, realistic chance to make things right between us. Who knew when we'd see each other again?

Finally, I sucked it up and headed inside the station. I just hoped I wouldn't end up making a complete ass of myself, I still wasn't sure where I stood from her, even after the prom.

After ten minutes of searching, I finally found her in a corner, on a bench. She sat there quietly, surrounded by two bags and a suitcase. It was a far cry from the girl I dated for almost a year.

I sat down on the bench next to her, a duffel bag between us, she didn't even bother to turn her head.

"Listen _creep_." She growled. "I told you before, I can make it on my own in LA just fine."

"I never doubted it for a second Queen C."

She looked over in surprise. "What the heck are you doing here dork?"

**:::::**

"Nice to see you too, pretty lady." I told her with a smile.

"Yeah right. Look at me, I'm-"

"As beautiful as ever Cor, you know that."

"Thanks." She replied quietly. "So what _are_ you doing here?"

"Well... I'm going on my road trip today, and I was looking for some female companionship of the non-hooker variety. Know anybody that needs a ride to LA?"

"I already paid for the ticket." She frowned. "I don't know if-"

"Don't worry, we can get the cash back. Besides, it sure beats sitting next to a guy who smells like he pissed himself, or a lady that thinks rubber chickens are taking over the world, right?"

"You're serious, even after everything that happened?"

"Seeing how good you looked in that prom dress made it all worthwhile."

She gave me one of those great smiles of hers, and everything was right with the world.

**:::::**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

My eyes were closed and my head leaned back. With the wind whipping through my hair and hottie, Gavin Rossdale's voice singing '_Glycerine_', I could almost imagine that I was still in my Mustang.

When I opened my eyes, reality came crashing back. Cracked windshield? _Check._ Rusty paint job? _Check._ Warped and torn vinyl seats? _Check._ Doofus thinking he knew the words of the song...

"Would you stop that?"

He looked over at me, startled. "What?"

"Stop butchering the song." I ordered.

"What the heck are you talking about? I'm just singing along to it, geez..."

"You don't know the words, and all you're doing is drowning out Gavin."

"Who?" He asked dumbly.

"Exactly."

**:::::**

**++Xander POV++**

"I don't know why you always made me do that."

"You sure didn't mind when we were fooling around, were you?" Cordelia argued.

"Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that Speedo was?"

"Stop whining." She ordered. "It's no worse then any of the crazy underwear guys try to buy us."

"I never bought you any underwear!" I would have been _way_ too embarrassed to even think about it.

"That's because you know I would have strangled you if you'd tried."

"Why do guys even buy girl's underwear? Doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose?"

In response, she smacked me in the back of the head.

"Ow!" I rubbed the spot she'd hit, Cordy had caught me with some of her nails.

"Quiet you baby."

**:::::  
**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

"No! No! No! You have to get over to the left, or you'll never be able to get out of this lane!" I ordered. The last thing we needed was trying to get this heap to move fast enough to make a gap in traffic.

"Would you quit it? I know where I'm going!"

"How many times have you driven to LA?" I yelled, as I tried to use the side mirror to fix my lipstick.

He looked over at me, I already knew the answer. "Never."

"Right. If you get on Route 101 now, we can make it to I-405 easily."

"Yes'm Miss Cordelia, I be takin' that way right now." He jammed his foot on the gas and cut over to the lane I wanted him to.

I turned toward him, and he chuckled at me. Looking back in the mirror, I could see a big streak of lipstick across the side of my face. "Not funny."

**:::::**

**++Xander POV++**

I kept a grin on my face as we continued down the road. Cordy would occasionally look over and glare at me. It had been worth it. She smacks me, I mess with her makeup, it always worked out in the end.

We were stuck in traffic right now, but at least we'd stopped at a gas station first and grabbed some food.

"You know it wasn't that funny."

"I didn't say anything..." I told her, before taking a bite out of a chocolate chip muffin. It was good one too.

"That's why you have that stupid grin on your face, right?"

I snickered. "I just thought of a funny joke, that's all."

"You keep thinking them up, and I'm going to stick my foot up your ass Harris."

"That big thing?" I asked, pointing down at her Nike-encased foot.

"I do not have big feet!"

"Don't worry honey..." A truck driver called out from next to us. "...you're well proportioned in all the places that count!"

"What?" Her outraged scream carried amongst the cars, drawing attention from more then a few people.

My face turned red as I tried not to laugh. She would kill me where I sat if I did.

"You heard me baby! Go on down to the truck stop, you'll clean up real nice there!"

I was about to rip the guy a new one, when Cordelia beat me to it.

She grabbed the muffin right out of my hand and heaved it at the cab of the truck. It exploded on the corner of the window frame, showering him with the gooey mess. "Good luck cleaning _that_ up buddy!"

I stared down at my now empty hand. I wasn't sure whether I should laugh or cry.

**:::::  
**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

Finally out of the traffic jam, caused by some idiot who didn't know how to put out a simple car fire, we were making good time to LA.

I shook my head as dweeb-boy continued to mourn his lost muffin. I felt a little bad, but that truck driver had it coming. Xander and I had gotten a good laugh out of it at his expense.

The driver had been less then pleased, even threatening to get out and 'teach me some manners'. He'd even gone so far as to put the big tractor trailer in park, and start opening the door. That's when Xander had gotten involved...

"_You take one step out of that cab, and I'll break your fucking neck._"

The driver had taken one look at Xander's face and quickly closed the door. When I had turned back to him, he was sitting there as if nothing had happened. That was something I really liked about him, no matter what happened, I could always trust him to watch my back.

"We're about twenty minutes from your exit, make sure you've got everything ready. I don't want to hold you up."

"Hold me up from what?" I asked, confused.

"I'm sure you've got some kind of important party to go to, or a lunch with a big-shot producer."

"Xander, I haven't even moved in. No one knows me in LA yet."

"They're gonna take one look at you, and you'll be a movie star. I have no doubt about it Cor."

I couldn't help but blush. I'd had plenty of smoke blown up my butt for years, from the ass-kissers and hangers-on. They'd just said whatever I wanted to hear. Xander, in his infinite optimism, had meant every word he'd just told me.

As I sat back and watched the billboards pass by, I wondered how much I'd really miss the dork.

**:::::  
**

**++Xander POV++**

"We're coming up on that street you were looking for."

"Okay, turn left here, and it'll be number three-oh-two." Cordelia told me as she looked over her directions.

Looking at this area, I wasn't happy with what I saw. This was _not_ a nice neighborhood. After making the turn, I was even less pleased.

"Three-oh-four... Three-oh-three... Here we go Cor, three-oh-two." I scanned the three story building up and down, it was a freaking hovel.

Cordelia finally got a good look at it, and she froze. I seriously doubted this was what she'd expected to find.

As I parallel parked across the street from it, I didn't know what the heck I was gonna do. I couldn't leave her here like this.

**:::::**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I couldn't believe _that_ was the building I'd been expecting to move into. I knew the rent was affordable, but I didn't expect it to look like it was ready to fall down. After sweet-talking the landlord, Mister Umberto, into holding it until I got there, I was having second thoughts.

I didn't even want to look at Xander. I was so embarrassed that he'd know this was what I'd been reduced to. Sure he knew I wasn't rich anymore, but after all that stuff I'd said about his house, he looked like a millionaire compared to this place.

"What do you want to do Cor?"

I finally got the nerve to look at him. His face was neutral, which was a plus, but I didn't know what he was thinking right now.

"Cor?" He asked, real concern in his voice.

Everything I'd had my entire life, my family, my friends my fortune, all gone. Mother and Daddy were on the run, I was an absolute joke to my former Cordettes, and I had eight hundred bucks to my name.

Now, I was just another girl in LA, trying to make it big, and I was about to move into a place that should have been condemned ten years ago. Seeing the big dork just sitting there, _hoping_ there was something he could do to help made me finally lose it.

"It's okay, we'll work something out, I promise."

I threw my arms around him and I sobbed into his shoulder. Why was it that my biggest enemy in Sunnydale was the only person that still actually cared about me?

**:::::**

**++Xander POV++**

After hearing from Cordy everything that was going on with her, I didn't know what to do. She'd told me she only had one nice dress for interviews and parties, plus no money for food after she paid rent. If she didn't find work immediately, she was screwed.

I wished I could wave a magic wand to make things better for her, but after taking Anya to the prom, I was never going to try that again. Instead, I did the only thing I could.

Getting my left arm free from where Cordelia continued to pour her heart out to me, I reached under the steering column and brought out a wad of cash.

"Here Cor, I want you to have this." I told her, holding it up for her to see over my right shoulder.

"What..." Seeing it, she pulled back in surprise. "No Xander, I can't-"

"There's about two grand there. When you become famous, I know you'll pay me back." I told her with a smile.

"Where did you get all of this money?"

"Jesse and me were planning this road trip since we were in seventh grade. With all the yuppie's in Sunnydale that don't wanna mow their own lawns, there's a lot of money to be made."

She shook her head. "No Xander, I can't take this. You'll have to go back home without it."

"You're trying to do something with your life. I'm just going to drive around for a couple of months and then find a dead-end job when I get home. Now I can get a jump on that, maybe move up from fry cook, to a cashier job at the Doublemeat Palace a little faster."

**:::::**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I stared at him in disbelief. He was willing to give up all of his road trip money, so that I'd be more comfortable, and be able to have a better chance of finding a job.

I'd dumped this guy over something as stupid as a kiss. Because _I_ was Cordelia Chase, and no one dumped _me_. But he wasn't back in Sunnydale, trying to get another kiss from Willow. He was here in LA, offering everything he had to help me.

"I want to go with you." I blurted out.

"What?"

"You heard me dweeb... I want to go with you on your road trip."

"No Cor, you don't have to say that." He tried to shove the cash into my hands. "Just take the money."

Obviously, I needed to take a more drastic measure. I grabbed both sides of his face and kissed him. After several seconds, I let him go, not like he was struggling though.

"I- uh..."

"Let's try heading south," I told him enthusiastically. "...how's that sound?"

He just nodded and started the car. I really liked that even after all this time, I could still kiss him speechless.

**:::::**

**++Xander POV++**

We got out of LA alive, and drove for another forty five minutes, finally ending up in a town called Greenwood. We weren't exactly sure where we were, but it was somewhere between Escondido and Palm Springs.

After driving around, we found a small bed and breakfast called 'Ellen's Place'. It wasn't anything fancy, just nicer then the motel rooms I was expecting to use when I didn't sleep in the car. Cordy and I had talked it over, and we'd decided to just splurge for tonight.

It was getting dark as we grabbed a few bags and headed to the door. Along the way, Cordy took my hand. While it was enjoyable, I wondered if it was going to go anywhere. It'd be great if we could get back together, but I just didn't want to push it.

Cordelia and I entered the house and looked around, it was nice, but even I could tell the stuff inside was dated. An older woman suddenly appeared from one of the rooms, several towels in her hands.

"Hello there!" She greeted, putting her load on a small desk. "Welcome to Ellen's Place, I'm Ellen Hathaway."

"Nice to meet you." I told her, shaking hands. "I'm Xander, and this is Cordelia."

"My, what unusual names." She said with a smile. "Are you two kids in college?"

"We just graduated high school," Cordelia informed her. "...We're on a road trip right now."

"That's nice I-"

"Mrs. Hathaway." A woman's voice called out from above us, followed by the sound of heels coming down the stairs.

I could see the owner grimace, I was guessing whoever it was, wasn't a favorite guest.

A nicely dressed woman, probably in her forties, came to the bottom of the steps. "Mrs. Hathaway, I distinctly remember asking for additional towels for our room."

"I understand Mrs. Stephens, I was just bringing them up to you..." She motioned to the nearby towels. "...When some additional guests arrived.

She gave us both a look of disdain. "Shouldn't you be worrying about _paying_ guests?"

"I'd say we're covered." I responded, holding up the wad of cash.

"Hmph." She collected her towels and started to walk away, muttering under her breath.

I could see Cordy ready to pounce, so I put a hand on her shoulder. Normally I'd enjoy the show, but I was beat, and didn't want to look for a new place to crash for the night.

"So..." Mrs. Hathaway asked, trying to get back to business. "Would you like one room, or two?"

I wasn't about to answer that, so I turned to Cordy.

"One's fine." She told the older woman with a smile.

**:::::**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I started unpacking some of our things, while Xander went into our bathroom. I seethed inside, thinking how close that stuck-up bitch had come to getting knocked out. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I couldn't help but wonder if I had really been _that_ bad?

Xander came out shortly after, he must have noticed the mood I was in. "You okay Cor?"

"Yeah." I told him with a sigh. "I just couldn't stand that woman, and I'm wondering if that's how other people think of me."

He sat down next to me and gave me a hug. "Honestly, I'm sure a lot of people do."

I looked at him in surprise. I wasn't sure why though, since that was what I thought already.

He noticed and gave me a squeeze. "Let me ask you a question first, okay?"

I nodded, I _so_ wanted to be wrong on this.

"Do you think the people that you saved feel that way?"

"What?"

"The students at graduation, I saw you save more then a few from vamps. Do you think those people would still be alive to think of you that way if you hadn't saved them?"

"I couldn't save them all." I felt tears roll down my cheeks.

"And neither could I Cor. But my point is, no condescending bitch like that one, would risk their life for _anybody_."

"I'm sorry Xander, what I did to you-"

"I had it coming." He finished. "You had every right to break up with me the second time."

"Second time..." I muttered. "God I was a bitch."

"But in a good way Cor, I wouldn't know what to do if you suddenly became little-miss manners."

"Please." I told him, as I picked my purse up, off of the floor. "The day that happens, shoot me."

"It's crossed my mind a few times."

I gave him a fake glare. "I've got something for you." I told him, reaching into my purse.

"Is it a new muffin?" He asked excitedly. "I was very unhappy when you shared my muffin with another man, you know."

I just shook my head at his silliness, before pulling out a box of condoms. When we'd stopped at a gas station just before leaving LA, I'd told him I forgot something in the store. I'd wanted them to be a surprise, and I could see it was.

His tone changed instantly. "Cor, we don't-"

"I know we don't, that's why I want to. You would have given me all your money with no strings attached, that shows me how much you really care."

"I do care, and I just wanted to apologize for-"

"Are you _trying_ to get me to change my mind?" Slightly annoyed that he'd tried to bring that up. "Because I'd really like you to be my first."

"First?"

"Yeah, first. Don't tell me you believe those football team rumors..."

"No- no- no- no- no." He implored. "I know that was _all_ Harmony." He thought about it for a second. "I mean both doing the team, and the rumors."

I snorted. "So true."

"And ah, just so you know, this won't be my first time."

"I know."

"You do? How did-"

"Oh come on..." I cut him off again. "That girl couldn't keep her legs closed, do you really think she could keep her mouth shut either?"

"Yeah, she was kinda-"

"Xander."

"Yes Cordy?"

"Shut up and take off your clothes. Now."

**:::::  
**

**++Xander POV++**

I lay in bed looking straight up at the ceiling. Last night had been fantastic, probably the best of my life. Beyond the most obvious reason, it was the fact that Cordelia might be giving me a second chance.

I glared at the window though, with all the racket going on outside, I couldn't get back to sleep. At first I thought it was just a passing trash truck, but the loud noises and yells continued. Suddenly, a loud thud, like a car accident happened, startling Cordy awake.

"What the hell was that?" She asked, as she sat up in bed, with a look on her face that would freeze the balls off a man at fifty feet.

I tried not to snicker at that, since I was quickly realizing that she was not a morning person. "Maybe it's a riot."

Cordelia turned to me, and I knew I'd messed up. "Laugh it up funny man. It's seven-fifteen, we don't need to check out until eleven. We could have slept a few more hours."

I was about to reply when screaming started somewhere out front. Shortly after, it was downstairs in the house. I ripped myself out of bed and grabbed for my pants on the floor.

As I yanked them on, I could see Cordelia was clearly unhappy that the Sunnydale weirdness had followed us. "Cor, there's a hand axe in the blue duffel bag, grab it and come downstairs." With that said, I ran to see what the heck was going on.

**:::::  
**

I came down the stairs to find Mrs. Hathaway, and several people that must have been other guests, gathered around a man on the floor, next to him, was the bitch from last night. All were freaking out just inside the front door.

The man was sitting on the floor clutching a severely bloodied left arm. His wife was next to him babbling about something. No one was doing anything to stop the bleeding, and I somehow doubted they'd called 911.

Before graduation, I would have been just another face in the crowd. But after having a major role in planning and executing the assault on the mayor, I had enough confidence to get involved and try to help.

"Is anyone here a doctor or nurse?" I asked as I moved toward the crowd.

The bitch wife looked up at me with disdain. "Does it look like any of us are you moron?"

I crouched down in front of the husband. "Then everyone get back, I've been training to be an EMT." It wasn't true of course, but I was the closest thing this guy would get. Turning to Mrs. Hathaway, I told her to get a first aid kit, and then to a random woman to dial 911.

All but the wife backed up, seemingly grateful to have someone take charge. "What's your name man?" I asked as I coaxed his hand off his arm.

"Henry." He said, grimacing as he got another look at his forearm.

Looking at it myself, I could tell this wasn't some cut. The flesh and muscle were gone down to the bone. "My name's Xander. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was loading up the luggage into the trunk, we wanted to get an early start to Los Angeles..." He grunted as I prodded the wound.

"I'm just getting a busy signal, I can't get through!"

"Keep trying!" Turning back to Henry, I told him to continue.

"Some guy. I don't know, maybe he was homeless. He came up and grabbed Laura. I struggled with him and he bit me. I managed to throw him off, and we came back inside."

Random screaming could be heard outside as things seemed to get worse. I wondered how many people this guy had attacked.

Mrs. Hathaway brought the medical kit and I started swabbing the wound down. Henry groaned loudly, I couldn't blame him, this bite was nasty.

"Be careful you idiot." Laura said. "You mess this up, and we'll sue you into the ground."

"This coming from a woman wearing last years Prada shoes? _Please_." Cordelia snarked, as she came down the stairs in jeans and a t-shirt, axe in hand.

**:::::  
**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

The woman glared up at me. "Who do you-"

I'd seen that look before, it was the same one Mother used to give, when the 'help' did something she didn't like. Money or not, _no one_ did that to Cordelia Chase.

"I'm the girlfriend of the guy trying to help your husband. Stop acting like an ungrateful bitch and keep your mouth shut."

"Why you-"

"Laura please..." The bleeding man begged his wife.

I'd almost feel bad for the guy being married to the woman, except he was dumb enough to do it to begin with.

"Cor, keep an eye out the window for me. Let me know if you see this homeless guy that attacked him." Xander told me as he bandaged up the mans arm.

"Uh... What's with the axe?" One of the other male guests asked, eying the small, but nasty looking blade.

"It's a lot more effective then mace." I told him with a smirk, as I walked to the window.

"Where is that goddamn ambulance!"

"It's still busy!" A woman called back from somewhere.

Looking out the window, I didn't like what I saw. People were crowded around something on the ground in a nearby yard, and there was a car wreck down the street. Plus, the 'homeless' guy was wearing an expensive three-piece suit. That wasn't the worst of it though.

"Xander, that guy you were talking about has a huge hole in the side of his neck. He's walking around like a drunk, he should be dead."

Finished with the bandaging, Xander got a look for himself. He then turned back to the group of people. "Are any of you carrying masks in your bags? Specifically African one's?"

They stared at him like he'd grown a second head.

"My husband is bleeding on the floor, and you're worried about masks?"

I could see Xander losing control of the situation, he was simply too nice to put the older woman in her place. I didn't have that problem.

"We've had some experience with this stuff before. We might be able to stop it if we have enough information."

I couldn't believe this crap was happening. We finally got away from the Hellmouth and here we are in the middle of this. I was betting Xander was thinking more or less the same.

**:::::  
**

**++Xander POV++**

"Experience with homeless people?" One of the guests asked.

"No, that guy out there is a zombie." I explained flatly.

"Are you crazy?" Henry screamed. "It was just some guy in a dirty suit!"

"That _dirty suit_ is a three thousand dollar Armani custom. Where did a homeless guy get that?" Cordy added.

"Three thousand for a suit?" Laura cut in. "Please, at that price _anybody_ can have one."

Oh I get it now, you're _nouveau riche_." Cordelia accused. "You come into some money, and now you think you're something special. Get over it lady."

"Look people," I interrupted. "...Just take a peak out the window if you don't believe us."

"Daddy!" A little girl's terrified scream came from outside. "Daddy help!"

Cordelia and I looked at each other, we weren't going to ignore that. She handed me the axe and quickly grabbed up an umbrella. Then, on three, we opened the door.

**:::::  
**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

The neighborhood was a complete mess. There were two on the lawn that started toward us as soon as they saw us. I watched as Xander headed toward one of them, the axe raised over his head.

"Go find that girl, I'll handle these guys!"

I didn't have to travel far, I found her in the very next yard. She was blond, and about six, wearing a pink nightgown. She was sitting in front of the gate of an eight foot tall fence. She continued to scream as she tried to hold the gate closed, a bloodied hand trying to force it open.

I ran and threw myself against the gate, trying to get the arm to pull back, but it just kept reaching.

I looked down, and could see the girl looking up at me in terror, probably thinking I was one of them too.

"It's okay sweetheart, I'm here to help you. Just hold the gate, and I'll get rid of this guy."

After getting a nod from her, I pointed the umbrella into the space the arm had made and shoved the thing backwards. I then slammed the gate shut and attached the small hook to the eye on the fence. I wasn't much, but it would work.

I bent down and picked the girl up, holding her on my hip.

"Mommy?"

"I'm not your-"

"No look, mommy!" She exclaimed, and pointed over my shoulder.

I looked and saw a pale woman in a bra, with a bite on her neck pounding on the window. It finally shattered, and she started to climb through. I gagged as she gutted herself on the shards of glass as she continued to drag herself out.

Behind her, I could see a man with most of the skin on his chest and belly missing, I was guessing that was 'daddy'.

"Shit." I turned around, and realized we were in trouble. There were four of them coming right at us across the lawn. Besides that, 'mommy' was crawling toward us, 'daddy' was on his way out, and the back gate was being pounded hard.

As I clutched the little blond girl tightly, I did the only thing I could. "Xander!"

**00000**

**==Elsewhere==**

Whistler rushed through the halls of the prison of the undying. He still couldn't believe what had happened, and the bosses upstairs were pissed. Now they wanted to know why _he_ hadn't done anything to prevent it.

Finally reaching the door, he waited impatiently for the guard to whisper the release on the large lock. He walked inside, she stood there in the middle of her chambers, her back to him.

"What the hell were you thinking Jasmine?"

The fallen power turned toward him suddenly, before he could even react, she had him by the neck against the wall. Her maggot-ridden face, just inches from his. "**How dare you come into my chambers and speak to me in that tone, inferior being.**" She spat.

"The bosses want to know how and why you released that plague." He grunted out.

"**My mother's destiny has changed. If I cannot devour the world, their dead shall do so in my name.**" Jasmine then casually threw him across the room.

"Mother?" The balance demon asked, as he picked himself up off of the floor. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"**Leave.**" She growled. "**Before your _powers_ have one less insect to command.**"

Whistler didn't need a second hint, he quickly scrambled out the door, and hoped he'd never have to return to The Devourer's chambers again.

**00000**

**==A higher plane==**

The woman in the bright white gown growled as the bitch thought she had actually beaten her in this dimension. The dream had worked, but Jasmine had started what could be an apocalypse in response. As she checked to make sure her fashionably cut hair was still perfect, she decided this wasn't over.

**00000**

**A/N: While I am making no money from this, on October 31st, The Walking Dead will be premiering on AMC at 10pm Eastern time. I believe that the better the show is received, the better chance the show has for a long air life.**

The problem is, that I don't believe the people at AMC have done a good enough job of advertising it, which was part of the reason I did this story. For a 4.5 minute trailer, you can easily find it on YouTube.

A/N 2: This is not a crossover with The Walking Dead. These zombies are the generic kind, but I'll put in the disclaimer just in case.

**:::::**

**Disclaimer 2: The Walking Dead was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore. It is owned by Kirkman, Moore, Image Comics, and AMC.**

Disclaimer 3: The song '_Glycerine_' is owned by Bush and Trauma/Interscope/Atlantic Records.

**:::::**

**END**


	2. Almost There

**Walkers**

zTiamaTz

**:::::**

**ALMOST THERE**

**:::::**

**++Xander POV++**

As Cordy ran off to find the girl, I stalked toward the two on the lawn. The one in the suit, who had started this whole mess, was nowhere to be seen.

As the zombies approached, I noticed two things instantly. They were both really chewed up, and neither had a speck of dirt on them. I was thinking there wasn't any African-voodoo-whatever involved with this, just my usual bad luck.

The mask zombies had died when they'd received enough damage, judging by the wounds on the second guy, that wasn't the case here. His neck had bone sticking out of it, like he'd tried a freakin' Exorcist twist.

I reached the first one, and slammed the axe into his forehead, it instantly collapsed to the ground. "That was pretty easy." I muttered as the second one came up for his chance.

"Xander!" Cordy's panicked voice called out to me.

Fun time was over, I kicked the slow-moving thing in the leg, causing him to lose his balance. Down on his hands and knees, it was an easy shot to the back of the skull.

Ripping the axe free from the second zombie's head, I headed toward the sound of her voice, and the area the rest of the things were heading in.

**:::::**

As I came up behind the four walking corpses heading towards Cordy, I watched as she clutched the girl with one hand, she shoved a female in a bra, with ripped up stomach back with her umbrella, causing it to fall over. Behind it, I could see a huge guy trying to climb through a broken window.

I quickly realized what had happened, she'd been so caught up in saving the little girl, she hadn't noticed she was being surrounded until it was almost too late. I shouldered into one, knocking it to the ground, and buried the axe into the head of another.

Luckily, unlike the one's from Buffy's birthday party, these things were real slow and extremely stupid. My favorite kind of bad guy.

"Go for the head Cor!" I called to her as I continued to fight with the others.

**:::::**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

A loud bang on the gate distracted me, giving mommy a chance to grab my ankle. I almost fell over, but managed to shake her off.

"Go for the head Cor!" Xander screamed as he fought with the one's from the front lawn.

"Don't look." I told the girl, before stabbed the metal point of the umbrella down into the mother's head repeatedly. As I pulled it free from her skull, I heard a loud thud. Looking up, I saw the father had fallen out of the window, and was now getting to his feet.

The thing was _big_, so I backed up, wanting to get more room. Another loud bang came from the gate, and I turned in time to see it _just_ miss my face. Then the bloodied and shirtless thing was falling forward, knocking us over, and landing right on top of us.

"No!" I was only able to hold it back with one arm on it's shoulder, the other was pinned beneath the girl. I kept it as far away as I could, but it was trying as hard as it could to bite her.

The thing had no face, not even eyes. It just kept snapping as I tried desperately to keep it's teeth away from the girl's neck and shoulders. "Xander help!"

"I'm trying Cor!" He yelled back.

I could hear him struggling with the other ones, and then, my hand slipped off of the thing's blood-slicked shoulder. It came down on top of us, and immediately bit into the little girl's neck. She made a horrifying scream of pain, as I tried to push the thing off of her.

"Xander!"

I heard him yell, and he must have broken free. Shortly after, he grabbed the zombie under the chin with both hands, and yanked him back. Before he could help us further, the daddy zombie came at him.

Clutching the little girl, I rolled over and laid her on the ground, trying to do _anything_ I could to help her. Her mouth was moving as she tried to speak, but all she could do was spit up more blood. All I could do was hold her hand as she died in front of me, helpless.

**:::::**

I heard movement to my right, and saw that _thing_ getting back to it's feet. He was going to pay for this.

"I could use some help here!" Xander yelled.

I ignored him, as I grabbed a large rock from a nearby garden, as it came at me, I raised it up, and swung, catching it in the side of the head. It tried to get back up, but I beat him to it. "You!" _Thunk._ "Mother!" _Thunk._ "Fucking!" _Thunk._ "Bastard!" _Thunk._

I stared down in hatred at the thing, most of it's head was now a pancake. I brought the rock down one last time and sneered. _Thunk._ I wanted to kill _every last one_ of them.

"Cor, I _really_ need your help, _now_!"

Looking over at Xander, I could see he was in deep trouble. He was pinned to the ground on his side, his left hand barely gripping the thing's neck. He was barely holding the large zombie's head away from him.

I picked up the rock again, and quickly headed toward them, I wasn't going to lose anyone else.

**:::::**

**++Xander POV++**

"I could use some help here!" The big zombie was the size of a linebacker, and he had me pinned. The only thing keeping his teeth from me was the _very_ loose grip I had on his neck.

Cordelia had picked up a rock, and I figured she was coming to help. Instead, I watched her viciously attack the zombie that had bitten the little girl. She continued to pound it's face into the grass as she cursed like I never thought she could.

I had a sick feeling as the zombie continued to snap at me, the girl must be dead. I had to put that aside though, as I could feel my fingers quickly cramping up, I was running out of time. "Cor, I _really_ need your help, _now_!"

Cordy got to her feet and charged us, rock in hand. When she got close enough, she used a hard, two-handed swing that clipped the thing on the side of the head. As it tipped over, I helped by shoving him off of me, and trying to find my axe.

I finally grabbed it up two feet from my head, I planted my other hand to get up, but something grabbed it. It was the goddamn linebacker again. I swung the axe around, and buried it into his cheek, almost cutting the head in half.

"Come on you assholes!" I heard Cordelia scream.

Getting to my feet, I could see her swinging wildly at anything that moved. One little slip, and they'd have her on the ground. Christ, the way she was acting, I was half-expecting her to get dragged down through a floor vent.

I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back, barely ducking the rock as it came at me from over her head. "Cordy, it's me!"

Once she stopped struggling, I let her go, she turned back to me with tears in her eyes.

"Xander, I-"

"I know," I tried to assure her. "But we've got to move." There were three coming at us now, if we didn't hurry, I was guessing there would be plenty more behind them.

After we quickly dispatched the remaining three, I told her to go back into the house.

"But you can't-"

"I won't be long, I just want to make sure the car's ready to go."

She was going to keep arguing, but I stopped her. "Get our stuff and those people ready to go, okay?"

After thinking it over for a moment, she nodded.

"Go, I'll be right behind you." With that said, I watched as she took off around the corner of the house. I just hoped the rest of us could get out of here in one piece.

**:::::**

I scanned the ground, seeing bodies, or pieces of them, scattered everywhere. I finally found the one I was looking for though. The still-pink, bottom half of her nightgown stood out amongst the blood and death.

I'd wanted to get Cordy out of here, because I knew it was only a matter of time before that little girl got back up. I didn't want her to have to see what I was about to do either. I gently closed her eyes and stood back up. "You're with your family now." I told her corpse, before I brought the axe down on her skull.

I sighed, and walked toward the front of the bed and breakfast, it was better this way. Her body shouldn't have to be walking around like _that_. I reached the door and gave a look up and down the street, I could see more of them coming, we were running out of time.

Opening it up, I was assaulted by loud screaming, and the sound of a struggle. How the hell had they gotten into the house?

**:::::**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

I couldn't believe this nerve of that _bitch_. Xander had bandaged her husband's arm up, and she had refused to open the door to let me back in. If it hadn't been for Mrs. Hathaway, I'd still be out there.

The woman even had the nerve to say that Xander and I had _endangered_ her and the others by going out to help the girl. I was absolutely disgusted with her, and everyone else in the house now.

"A little girl just _died_ out there!" I screamed in her face. "And all you people could do was sit in here and hide like a bunch of cowards!"

"You couldn't even save her!" Laura shot back. "Why don't you go back upstairs, and whore-it-up with that boyfriend of yours, or is he dead too?"

I hauled back and slugged her, knocking the loudmouth on her ass. I rushed her, but someone grabbed me from behind, holding me back. While I fought against the arms, I dug into her that much deeper. "If I get my hands on you, you're going to wish you were dead bitch!"

As I continued to try and get loose, I looked back at who had me. I saw it was the overweight businessman who I'd seen when I came down earlier. Who knew the guy had that kind of grip?

The bitch got back to her feet, all she could do was glare at me. I was a survivor of the Sunnydale class of '99, what was _she_ going to do to _me_?

"What the _fuck_ is going on in here?"

**:::::**

We all turned to see a very angry looking Xander, axe in hand. With the amount of blood he was splattered with, you could swear he was an axe-murderer. Then I realized, I probably didn't look that much better.

"She's crazy!" Laura screamed. "She attacked me for no reason at all!"

He ignored her, turning instead toward the guy holding me. "Let her go."

"But-"

Xander held his weapon up. "Who's holding the axe smart-guy?" He growled.

I was quickly released, and I joined Xander at his side.

"You okay?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the people, as he placed an arm around me.

I returned the hug. "Yeah, they-"

"Later Cor." He said simply, before giving his full attention to the rest. "There are plenty more of them coming. You people need to get your shit together, and be ready to leave in five."

A grumble started amongst the crowd, I didn't know what they were expecting though.

"Stay or leave, it's your choice people." He told them, before we headed for the stairs and our room.

**:::::**

**++Xander POV++**

"We're going light, only what you can carry in one bag." I quickly sorted through my stuff, luckily, I didn't have much.

"Are we really going to take all of those people with us?"

I was surprised to hear that from her. She'd never been the type to just ignore someone in trouble, even when she was still playing the princess. "Cor I-"

"They could have helped, Xander." She insisted angrily. "That little girl would still be alive, even if just a _few_ of them had bothered."

"There's at least one family with kids, and Mrs. Hathaway is in her sixties. They couldn't help, and we shouldn't leave them."

"I know," She whispered. "It's... I didn't even know her _name_ Xander..."

I dropped my stuff and went over to her, wrapping her up in a hug. "I'm sorry Cordy, but it's not your fault. You did more then anyone else around here would, or could. Instead of dying alone, she had _you_."

Cordelia sniffled. "I just wish I could have done more, that's all."

I could hear screaming and other stuff going on down below, things were getting worse fast.

"I hate to be a jerk about this," I told her as I pulled back. "But we've really got to go."

"Okay." She said as she wiped her eyes, and went over to her stuff without another word.

**:::::**

We made it downstairs soon after, with one bag each. The place was in chaos, arms were reaching through broken windows, and people were either fighting them off, trying to help the wounded, or just standing there, doing nothing.

I could see an older, raven-haired woman, with a nasty shoulder bite. She must have been standing too close to the window or something. What looked to be her husband was tending to her, while others were trying to shove the zombies back with whatever they could find.

"There's no time for this, we need to go out the back door, now!" I ordered.

"But what about our cars?" A woman asked.

"We can't just leave them!" The guy that had grabbed Cordelia, complained.

"He's right, do you want to fight your way through the front door, or have a running start from the sides of the house?" Cordy called out, before the two of us headed for the back door.

**:::::**

**~~Cordelia POV~~**

It hadn't taken much convincing after our words had sunk in, to get everybody to fall in line. He'd gone out the back, to check which side we had a better shot of making it on. Everybody was going to either pile into Xander's car, or Henry's SUV, since they were the biggest, and easiest to get to.

The bunch of us, including the bitch, and her husband grouped together at the back door. He wasn't looking so hot right now, I was guessing he was in shock or something. Everybody who could, had grabbed whatever weapon they could get their hands on.

The parents, with the four and eight year old's, kept a close hold of them. Their sole job was to carry them to the vehicles, the rest of us would help cover them. After what I had already seen today, I was determined that the _entire_ family was going to make it.

Since I had lost my less then trustworthy umbrella, I'd settled on a cane, it had been Mrs. Hathaway's late husband's. Looking around as we waited for Xander's go, I could see some were less impressive then others. I couldn't help but have a bad feeling, just seeing the way they held them.

I could see Mrs. Hathaway shaking next to me. "Don't worry, just stick with me and we'll make it." I told her with a forced smile.

She turned to me, a sallow look on her face. "You don't think my Stuart is out there somewhere, wandering around, do you?"

My heart broke for her, I was a horrible thing to think that someone you cared about was out there like that. I wasn't even sure if it was worse then having one vamped. "No, I haven't seen any with dirt on them, I'm sure he's still at peace."

She gave a small smile, and squeezed my hand, which I returned in kind. "Don't worry," I assured her. "Xander is really good at this stuff, he'll get us through."

Before she could respond, the back door opened, revealing a haggard looking Xander. "It's go time people." He informed us, before stepping aside to let us through.

This was it, I just hoped we made it out of this alive.

**:::::**

**A/N: Being so close, I figured this was worth repeating:**

On October 31st, The Walking Dead will be premiering on AMC at 10pm Eastern time. For a 4.5 minute trailer, you can easily find it on YouTube.

If you've enjoyed this story, I feel you'll definitely like the show. Give it a try, I've been waiting ten years for a zombie TV show to come out.

A/N 2: I've recently added a new chapter to one of my other stories, 'Headhunters', if you get a chance, check it out.

**A/N 3: To my FF . net readers, I like to respond to all reviews given. Since this site does not have that option, I will respond to the previous chapter's reviews when I publish a new one. Sorry for the inconvenience. **

**:::::**

**END**


End file.
